Do you, like me, have a large collection of beauty products? I spend approximately £80 every month on toiletries. According to Google in the UK most women spend between £50-100 each month. I have to confess that I almost have a heart attack when I’m doing my shopping in Boots & the cashier cheerfully says “That’ll be £83.72 then please.” I finally got a Boots Advantage card a few months back which has come in handy upon occasion. Need some Iburofen but you’re completely broke? Use the points on your Advantage card, yay! Also they send you out vouchers which are obviously useful. However I feel that I really need to bring that average monthly spend back down.

I’m a sucker for a deal as much as the next person (read: woman) so sometimes I end up buying more than I intended. Buy one Body Wash & get the second half price? Awesome! Except.. why am I buying Body Wash in the first place? What’s wrong with good old fashioned soap? It costs less, lasts longer & is naturally antibactericidal to boot. Basically soap just isn’t fashionable! Body wash, bubble bath, shower gel, make-up remover, cleansers & toners are. The honest truth is that these overpriced & over packaged products just aren’t all necessary.

I know that some women choose to spend their money on beauty products as their luxury. I’ve had my moments of coveting beautifully packaged and smelling products but I can’t afford them. For me money is tight and I’ve set myself on a path to living a more sustainable lifestyle so spending money on toiletries is something that I need to think about.

Going back to basics doesn’t have to mean completely missing out on luxury though.The variety of beautiful handmade soaps you can get these days is astounding. I’ll wait until my three (yep, three!) bottles of shower gels & creams run out and then I’ll replace them with soap. I’m already out of bubble bath so I’m now using sea salt and essential oils such as lavender or lemongrass. Yes these can be expensive but as you only need to add a couple of drops to running water they last for ages.

I have a few other tricks up my sleeve for my product declutter including using body oil as moisturiser (it lasts forever and leaves your skin silky and soft) and make-up remover and a flannel instead of disposable wipes.

How about you? Are you a Luxury Beauty Junkie, a Green Bathing Queen or somewhere in between like me?